In this week's Roundup:
Head's Welcome | Your Ideas | Interesting Question | Staff Spotlight | Week Ahead | Key Term Dates | Photo of the Week | Open Day | Nursery & Junior | Senior & Sixth Form | Work of the Week | Francesca's Karate | Maz Turns 70 | Alumni Football Tournament | Senior School and Sixth Form Parent Consultations | Noticeboard
A message from
Rich Jones, Head.
My mum putting a frozen pizza in the tumble dryer for my kids’ lunch was probably high on the list of ‘peculiar developments’ for her as she got older.
At her funeral my brothers, close friends and I sat together and reminisced about some of the more unusual habits and actions my mum started when she was diagnosed quite early with dementia (we actually collated a top ten). This was, of course, before that nasty, pernicious little disease really began to secure its firm grip around my mum’s soul.
Top ten highlights included me being constantly chastised for using the wrong side of the tea towel. She would also occasionally talk to my dog and offer her treats under the table - nothing odd there - but given that the dog died several years earlier it did suggest something. She also began to take a new and unconventional pride in her own flatulence and would loudly proclaim that my 80 year old father was spending too much time ‘down at the discotheque’ with nurses.
One of my principle concerns as this state began to be the new normal and, sadly, as my mum’s personality slowly faded from view, was how to discuss her decline with her grandchildren, my own kids. What do you say, how much to you tell them and what questions might they ask?
It turns out I shouldn’t have worried at all.
Like with most things, young people take it very much in their stride a lot of the time and they can understand, empathise and resolve change better than many of us adults. They are not quite captured by cynicism yet. And that was absolutely my experience.
So, I shouldn’t have been, but I was a little surprised to hear that the Senior School Opps programme which involves going to the local care home was utterly oversubscribed. More than 65 students put it down as their first choice and I know Emma Roskilly, Assistant Head (Co-Curricular) and her team are busily trying to facilitate more places for the next cycle because of such an influx of interest.
Emma told me that “all of the residents are living with significant dementia and our young people took this completely in their stride, providing nothing but smiles, conversation, jokes and even some singing. The sessions finish with staff members Tabitha, Lizzie and Claire, who accompany the group, talking through the experience with the students and answering any questions.”
Since then there have been planning and responsibility sessions and this week there have even been manicures and 1950-60s singalongs.
This is genuinely exceptional and heart-warming from our students but on reflection absolutely not a surprise. This is about the values that we have here at St Chris and what staff, students and parents both subscribe to and forge forward. Those notions of compassion, empathy, care and service outside of ourselves are central.
I constantly hear talk that the ‘youth of today’ are fundamentally narcissistic, self-absorbed and consumed only by appearances and technology. Simply and wonderfully, not true.
We have so much to learn and experience from young people; their resolve, their adaptability, their nimbleness and their passion for care for those less able than themselves. For us adults, maybe, the older we get, it becomes harder to cling onto those sentiments and values.
At St Chris we harness it, promote and provide for it – absolutely as it should be.
Furthermore, I think that what care we provide for our elder generations says a great deal about who we are and what we value. And of course, we are probably all going to be older for, well, longer. For most of human history, later life was usually a fairly brief period, if we were lucky enough to make it there in the first place. The idea of an extended period of retirement is brand new, so it makes sense that we haven’t really figured out quite what we should expect. However, nothing is made worse with kindness and compassion.
The plan is for Opps to continue to develop and certainly the students have highlighted both their passion and sense of what they could be. I know next week, at the care home, they are looking forward to going back and they will be giving the home a music concert and running a tactile crafts session.
Me, well I am just about to make a final sweep of Letchworth and Hitchin’s local discotheque’s just in case dad is there dancing with glass in hand…
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Staff Spotlight.
Amelia Turvey,
Pastoral Assistant
After completing her studies in French and Business at the University of Nottingham, including a "wonderful" year living in Paris and teaching English to primary school children, Amelia embarked on a career that has seen her work in a variety of educational and pastoral roles.
After finishing her degree, Amelia took up a position at a law firm, focusing on family law. This experience sparked her interest in working more closely with children, leading her to apply for a PGCE “sort of on a whim, but it felt like the right way to go.”
After nearly a decade at Queenswood, Amelia and her partner moved to California, where she worked with a children’s non-profit choir. The organisation, open to children aged 4 to 18, was led by a world-renowned conductor and took Amelia and her students to some of the most iconic locations in the world. “We toured all around the world and the children got to perform in some incredible locations,” Amelia explained, her excitement clear. “I took 80 children to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York, 70 children to perform at the Vatican, and even more to Paris to sing at Notre Dame. The standard of singing attained by the children was simply awe-inspiring.”
One of the things Amelia cherishes most about working at St Chris is the uniqueness of its student body. “Whenever I describe my job to people who don’t know St Chris, I explain that our students are true to themselves. I love that they feel able to bring their authentic selves, their interests, and their passions, to school; it makes me smile.”
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